


"Ours"

by keyboardclicks



Series: "Men at Some Time are Masters of Their Fates" [3]
Category: Raffles - E. W. Hornung
Genre: Fluff, Ham Commons Era, Home Sweet Home, M/M, Prompt Fic, rafflesweek, so I'm sticking with it, that's the name the bbc radio series gave the landlady
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-12
Updated: 2017-03-12
Packaged: 2018-10-03 07:43:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10239299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keyboardclicks/pseuds/keyboardclicks
Summary: After days of waiting-too many days, I'll say-Raffles and I arrived at our new home in Ham Common together.  Mrs. Fisher questioned not the fact that we looked nothing alike despite being brothers, only fretted at how thin Raffles was and busied herself with making us a celebratory lunch, and so I was charged with giving my friend the grand tour of new home.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Rafflesweek prompt #3: Setting

No place shall ever hold in my heart the same sort of fondness I will always have for the house Raffles and I shared on the edge of Ham Common.  It was, perhaps, the place I had felt most at home since I was a boy and still sharing that large, wonderful house my mother and father, long before it had been taken over by that vile Guillemard.  But that is a story to be detailed elsewhere.

Despite the unpleasantness of the days preceding, the calm euphoria of introducing Raffles to our new burrow has never been topped.  I introduced my “dear brother” to our sweet landlady, whom patted him on the shoulder and welcomed him before going off to the kitchen to prepare us a celebratory lunch, saying, “You look as if you haven’t eaten in days, you poor dear!”  At this Raffles gave me a knowing smile, and despite how unpleasant I found what he was inferring, I chuckled in response.

“Well now, Bunny; I suppose the responsibility of giving me the grand tour belongs to you.”

“I wouldn’t say grand,” I chuckled.  “It’s a bit too small for that.”

“Nonsense!  It shall be our very own palace!  Come - show me around before Mrs. Fisher finishes lunch.  I know you say she’s a wonderful cook but I’m so hungry, my dear boy, that I think I should eat both our portions doubled even if were no better food than Dr. Theobald’s rice pudding!”

I lead him into the house with a smile, pointing out the stairs in the entranceway which lead to the second floor.

“Our bedrooms are there,” I said.  “As well as the bathroom.  The bookshelves in the room I’ve left for you are already stocked and there’s a writing desk in the other.”

“Wonderful!” he smiled.  “Everything you need for your literary pursuits.”

“And your reading habit,” I smiled.  “Do you remember those books you read when we stayed at the Colonel’s house in Kensington?  Well I looked through the titles upstairs and I’m rather sure I recognized a few; you could finally finish them.”

AJ laughed.  “You remembered the titles?”

“I remembered how often you talked about them,” I teased.  “Hard to forget when they were all you spoke of for the entire stay.”

Raffles laughed, then urged me onward.  The sitting room was first past the entranceway, small but comfortable with a well sized fireplace, plush chairs, various decorations upon the mantle, and paintings on the walls. 

“It’s no Rossetti,” said I, gesturing to a rather plain piece to the right of the fireplace.  “But I think it brightens up the room.”

“It does nicely,” Raffles laughed.  “After all, this is not the Albany; this is our cozy little country burrow, Bunny!  Bound to be incredibly different.”

My heart lept at the casual use of “our”, at the idea of this really and truly being a home for the both of us.  Mount Street and the Albany had been our necessarily separate dwellings, Earls Court was not at all a welcoming place nor one we wished to stay at if apart from the other, but this!  A true, splendid home for us both!

“Bunny,” Raffles chuckled tiredly, “for heaven’s sake you’re looking at me as if I’ve performed a miracle.  Do come back down from the clouds or I’ll simply have to go bother Mrs. Fisher for the rest of the tour.”

“Don’t you dare.”

We peaked through the door to see the connected kitchen and dining room, not entering for fear of interrupting Mrs. Fisher at her work.  Like the rest of the house they were small, but cozy rather than confining.  Light poured in from the east facing window, filling the room with warmth.  Four chairs sat at a small dining table and on one of them lay a long-haired black and white cat whose tail flicked back and forth intermittently.  Mrs. Fisher had apparently found him wandering around the cottage weeks ago and since then had recruited him as the resident mouse catcher, though during the daytime he preferred to lounge in a comfortable, sunny spot such as the one we had just found him in.  She had yet to name him.

Upon seeing us in the doorway Mrs. Fisher clicked her tongue.  “Out with you!” she ordered playfully, brandishing a spoon.  “Out until I’ve finished; you aren’t allowed in a moment before or you’ll be stealing bites before anything’s ready!”

“Of course, Mrs. Fisher,” I chuckled, tugging AJ by the elbow back to the stairway.  I dare to add that my friend was reluctant to go, enticed as he was by the already heavenly smells of our landlady’s cooking, but of course he would have to wait.

“My room’s on the left,” I said as we climbed the stairs.  “Yours is on the right and there’s a bath there in the middle.”

“Splendid,” AJ observed, running his hand over the banister and smiling as we climbed the stairs.  “I have to say I’ve already taken a shine to this place, dear fellow; an excellent choice.”

“By your suggestion,” I reminded.

“Still in the end your choice.  I had no doubt that my faith would not be misplaced.”

I showed him my room first, the smaller one with the north facing window and writing desk below it, my things tidied neatly away as I had tried to distract myself for the past few days from my anxieties.

“The window’s stuck closed, unfortunately,” I mused.  “Apparently the rain has warped the wood beyond repair.  It gets unfathomably dusty in here.  I’ve been left to smoke in your room or outside when Mrs. Fisher is about; the smell irritates her nose.”

“I shall make a note of that,” AJ replied.  “Would hate to impose on the good matron’s hospitality.”

He said this from the hallway while I still stood in the bedroom, he having taken off to view his own sleeping quarters.  As I had told him, there was a large bookshelf against the north wall filled with an extensive and impressive literary collection.  Raffles ran his fingers over the leather spines, chose one at random, and flipped through for a moment before replacing the book on the shelf.  He looked around at the mismatched, though not unsightly, furniture, the worn, round carpet beside his bed, the large, handsome oak trunk at its foot, and nodded approvingly.

“Very nice,” he said.  “Yes, Bunny, I think this shall do splendidly.”

I smiled, leaning against the doorway with a sigh.  “I’m glad you like it, AJ.  It’s no Albany but-”

“But it is a home.  And more importantly it’s far away from Doctor Theobald and  _ her. _ ”  At the mere memory of that woman, so unpleasant we need not even speak her name, we both grimaced.  Raffles sat down upon the edge of his bed and I joined him when he made the motions.  A familiar arm was lain across my shoulders.

“Yes,  my rabbit, I do believe this will do perfectly.  I daresay you couldn’t have picked more perfect digs.  We must go visit Richmond Park now that we’re so close; it’s absolutely gorgeous during this season when the poor weather breaks.”

“I should like that very much, AJ.”

Raffles patted my shoulder, smiled, and kissed me once.  It was a different kiss than that I had given him on the carriage; then I had been filled to the brim with emotions I knew otherwise not how to express, except perhaps with a swing of my fist.  Now was a contained and gentle joining which matched the warm, sleepy atmosphere of our new home.  It lingered and I could only smile when it broke, Raffles laying his face against mine with what almost seemed felt like relief.


End file.
